Among The Dead
by d-kronk
Summary: What if it was Catherine? Chapter 4 added, story now complete. GC
1. Chapter 1

Title: Among The Dead

Author: Angie

Summary: What if it was Cath?

Disclaimers: Fortunately, CSI Crime Scene Investigation does not belong to me, they are the property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful actors who portray them. If they did belong to me, I'm sure no one would have ever heard of them. The episode "Grave Danger" was written by Quentin Tarentino, Naren Shankar, Anthony Zuiker and Carol Mendelsohn

Author's Notes: Reading some of this fic may seem a little like deja vu. If I managed to succeed in my intentions that will be the case. This story started off with the idea of, "What if it was Cath?" and it escalated from there. There are lines in this which are extremely similar to the episode "Grave Danger" and some which are exact, that's done intentionally. I was intending on posting this all in one chapter, but length is prohibiting me from doing that. This story isn't quite complete yet, but it's pretty close, so I'm going to post this first chapter with the hope that I'll have this finished soon. Many thanks to Jaclyn for betaing this for me and her continual prodding me to work on this fic, not thanking her for the poll though, still can't believe she did that. Thanks to Rita for helping me come up with a title, and the few hundred we went through before I actually came up with this... maybe I'll think of a story for one of the others. Also thanks to Jaclyn and Gomey for letting me slide on my challenge in July and work on this instead of another new fic.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Major Spoilers for "Grave Danger" if you haven't seen that episode and don't want to know what happened, DO NOT read this fic. There are also minor spoilers for "A Little Murder" and "Weeping Willows" and the possibility of minor spoilers from any other episode through the end of season five.

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

XOXOXO

Catherine drove down the street, flipping through the radio until she found a familiar song. Nodding her head, she refocused on the road ahead, watching for the turn she knew was coming. Easing to a stop at the traffic light, she glanced around. Watching the traffic light, she blindly moved her hand to the controls on the door, lowering the windows a few inches. She pressed the gas, then turned the corner, smiling as the wind whipped through her hair. She glanced down at the clock, pressing a little harder on the gas peddle as she noticed the time. "If I wrap this up fast, I can get back to my office and get all the paper work finished." Catherine said aloud to herself, thinking of how she could actually finish her work before going home and spend her one day off with her daughter instead of trying to squeeze in a few hours of paper work.

Seeing the familiar lights ahead, she slowed down, pulling to a stop in the parking lot next to the police cruiser. Stepping out of the Denali, she moved to the back, pulling out her gear. She quickly walked over to the police officer, her eyes scanning the scene as she walked.

"Catherine."

"Hey. What do you have?"

"Dispatch called out an anonymous nine one one. I got the call and this is what I found."

Catherine turned the flashlight on, revealing a large pile of body parts. She lifted her head, looking for the source of evisceration.

"Um…Cath. I'm sorry, I need to…." The officer didn't finish his words, rushing towards his cruiser.

Catherine turned and watched the officer run back to his car, a slight smirk on her face. Turning back to her scene, she placed her case on the ground, then raised her camera, snapping pictures of the scene. Hearing the reemergence of the officers lunch, she shivered slightly, recalling what happened the last time an officer had to leave her at a scene. "At least he's still in my eyesight. Out here in the open." Unfastening her case, she raised the lid and removed a couple of markers and walked a few steps down the parking lot. She stopped as something caught her eye, bending and placing a marker on the ground next to a cigarette butt and snapping a few pictures. She stood up, turning back to the officer to make sure he was still there. "You alright?"

He waved his hand, still bent over next to the car.

Shaking her head, she turned back to work. Walking farther down the parking lot, she stopped at a skid mark on the pavement. 'What are the odds this has anything to do with the case?" Setting down another marker, she snapped the pictures anyway, hearing Gil's voice echoing through her memory.

'The longest part of any case is weeding out what actually matters from what is there."

Once again, she glanced back at the officer, noticing that he had moved from his hunched over position and was now leaning against the back of the vehicle. She had only taken a couple steps, when she heard him heaving yet again. She stood across the parking lot, near the small street that ran behind the businesses for delivery traffic and looked around, her eyes grazing a Styrofoam cup in a plastic bag. Her curiosity piqued, she walked over to the fire hydrant, pulling on her latex gloves on the way. Kneeling, she took a few pictures, picking up the bag and raising her eyebrows. Her eyes further opening when she felt the gloved hand clasp over her mouth, struggling until her world went black.

XOXOXO

"Grissom." He said shortly into his phone, the annoyance obvious at being interrupted from his work.

"Gil. Um…" Brass stuttered, not sure how to continue. "I need you to come to Flamingo and Koval. I've got a case…"

"I'll send Greg and Sara, I've got paperwork…"

Brass didn't let Gil finish. "You want this. Shit…" He muttered still not sure how to tell his friend what happened over the phone.

"Jim?" Gil sat fully upright in his chair, the paperwork forgotten. "What's going on?"

"Catherine was…" He paused again, still contemplating what to say.

"Catherine was what?"

"She's not here, Gil."

"She probably in her office. Need me to get her?"

"No Gil. She was here on a case. She's…." He stopped, not wanting to voice what happened.

Gil sat back in his chair, hard, not liking what the implication of Jim's unspoken words meant. He stood quickly, dropping the phone onto the hook and grabbing the keys he had previously thrown on the desk and ran out of the building. Seconds later, he was squealing out of the parking lot sirens blaring as he sped his way down the back roads towards Flamingo. Pulling out his cell phone, he glanced at the directory, punching the needed number.

"Sara." He responded when the phone was answered. "I need you at Flamingo and Koval now. I'll fill you in when you get there." Pressing end, he tucked his phone back in his pocket, steering around the traffic and slowing as he came to an intersection. Once sure the vehicles had all stopped for him, he accelerated.

Turning into the parking lot, he switched off the siren, quickly stopping just inside the lot. He pulled his kit from the space between the front seats and quickly jumped out of the car, glancing at all the commotion as he made his way over to Brass.

"Did you see anyone in the area?"

"No sir. It was just the two of us. I didn't see a thing. I only took my eyes off her for a couple of seconds."

"You're not supposed to take your eyes off of her ever. Your job is to protect her at the crime scene!" Jim took a deep breath, turning when he saw Gil out of the corner of his eye. He walked with him towards the initial scene, filling Gil in on the details. "Cath was here working on an anonymous nine one one. The officer over there was feeling a little ill, went back towards his cruiser where he uh… was sick."

"Just like what happened a few years ago." Gil remembered, his mind thinking back to the gash on Catherine's head, and hoping that was the worst she would suffer this time.

"She's been gone about twenty five minutes." Jim said, turning as he heard another car pulling into the parking lot.

Sara strode across the parking lot, glancing around as she joined the two men. "What's going on?"

"Catherine's missing." Gil said, the tightness of the words almost choking him. He didn't elaborate further. Simply moving forward, he looked at the work Catherine had done on the scene. He glanced at the markers as he walked forward. Once he had reached the edge of the parking lot he glanced down, swallowing hard as he saw her equipment neatly displayed on the ground. He crouched down, running a gloved finger over her name emblazoned across the front of her vest. Looking up at Sara, he nodded to indicate she should process the items.

Sara knelt at the evidence, inspecting the vest she had just watched Grissom caress. Noticing the white fiber, she grabbed the tweezers, picking up the evidence and sniffing before tucking it into a bindle. "Found a white fiber, smells a bit like alcohol." She called out, looking up to see Grissom crouched in front of the fire hydrant. Standing, she could see he had a bag in his hand. She walked over to him, frowning as she watched him examine the cup in the bag. "Why did you bag that?"

"I didn't. Found it like this. Look at the seal. It doesn't match Catherine's evidence tape. Her initials aren't on here."

"What is it?"

"A clue." Gil stood, taking the evidence with him and headed back to his vehicle.

Sara turned and watched him walk away for a second before quickly catching up to him. "What are you doing?"

"Taking the evidence back to my vehicle. I want it in a completely secure location." He stopped in front of Catherine's items, snapping numerous pictures of her vest, flashlight, markers and camera before gathering them in bags. Gil turned and walked back to the other side of the parking lot, leaving Sara to stare after him in wonder.

XOXOXO

Catherine blinked, trying to remember where she was at as her mind raced to remember what happened. She moved to wipe the strands of hair from her face, finding her hands bound behind her. She pulled roughly, wincing as she felt the restraints dig into the delicate skin on her wrists. She lurched to the side, trying to balance herself as the vehicle turned and started bouncing roughly as the terrain changed. Glancing around, she could make out that she was in the back of a vehicle, with the seats removed. She looked at the back hatch, the window revealing the darkness outside. Scooting closer to the hatch, she pulled her legs up to kick the window out. She screamed, as once again she felt the clothed hand clasp over her mouth and her world once again slipped into darkness.

XOXOXO

Sara climbed out of the dumpster, walking over to where Grissom was staring at the ground. "Dumpster's clean. Didn't find any signs of blood or anything else. What do you have?" She asked, glancing down to where Gil had been staring.

"Look at this. What's missing here?"

She looked harder, trying to see what Grissom noticed.

"There's no spatter." He told her. "Perfectly uniform pool of blood. It's like this was placed here."

"Why would you place…?"

"A lure."

"But how would they know Catherine was going to be here?" Sara asked.

"They wouldn't." Gil whispered, deep in thought. Shaking his head, he turned around to David. "David." He motioned him over to them.

"I'm so sorry, Gris. I should have gotten here sooner. I could have…"

"You don't know if it would have made any difference. We need you to focus on now. Get this over to Doctor Robbins. Fill him in on the urgency. I'll be there to talk to him soon."

David nodded and went to work.

"Gil."

He turned at his name, leaving Sara with David and walked over to Ecklie. "Ecklie."

"I got here as soon as I could. This is our number one priority tonight. Whatever you need, it's yours. Just do what needs to be done to get her back."

"Thanks Conrad." Gil replied, grateful he wouldn't have to butt heads with anyone to get what he needed. He was distracted as another vehicle pulled up to the scene. He grimaced as Warrick and Nick hopped out of the Denali, rushing over to him.

"We just heard. What can we do to help?"

Gil turned at the dog barking and motioned to the officers. "Nick, go over to my Denali. I've got Cath's, um… vest in there. Let the dogs get a whiff, then follow. See what you find."

XOXOXO

"What do you have, doc?" Gil asked as he stepped into the room.

"Tested the blood. It's not human. So I looked a little closer. Cecum. Probably dog entrails."

"Helps confirm the lure theory." Gil muttered, moving to leave the room.

"Gil…"

He stopped, turning around to face Al again. "I'm sorry about what happened."

Gil nodded, looking down.

"Her family been notified yet?"

"I'm just about to."

XOXOXO

Gil stepped into the break room, looking around the table, then shutting the door behind him and leaning back. "Tell me what we have so far."

"Trail from the scent dogs lead to a dry spot. I took measurements and worked it out with Hodges. Have a list of possible car models Cath might have been taken away in. After we're done in here I'm going to head over to PD, see if I can locate any vehicles on the list on any of the traffic cameras near the crime scene." Warrick informed him, passing a copy of the possible vehicles they were dealing with to the rest of the team.

"Good. Go ahead and start that, those cameras don't keep the video in the system very long I don't want you to lose any possible leads." Gil moved from his position, leaning against the door, and let Warrick slip past him. "What else do we have? Sara… did you find anything out about the cup?"

"I've dusted the bag, swabbed for epithelials. Just dropped the swab in DNA, Mia's working on it now. No prints on the bag."

"And the camera?"

Sara shook her head. "Nothing obvious on it. Just basic shots of the scene. Archie is analyzing it. Trying to see if he can make out any shadows or reflections that might have been missed."

"Okay." Gil nodded, his mind working overtime trying to make sense of everything they have so far. Without another word he stepped out of the break room.

XOXOXO

Gil pulled the Denali to a stop in the drive-way, staring up at the familiar house. Taking a deep breath, he climbed down from the vehicle and walked up to the door. He knocked lightly, not wanting to awaken the sleeping child he knew was in there.

The door opened and Catherine's mother came into view.

"Oh God! What's wrong? Where's my baby?"

He quickly pulled her into his arms, stepping further onto the porch and shutting the door behind them. "Lily…"

"She's dead isn't she. It's exactly how I told her this would happen."

Gil stared at the weeping woman, letting her sob into his chest. "Lily… she's not… she's not…" He didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to possibly lie to her. "Listen to me Lily. She's missing. That's all we know right now."

"Missing?" She sniffed, pulling back from his hold. "She's late all the time… maybe she just stopped somewhere."

Gil shook his head, grasping her hand. "She was working a case. We found her vest, her supplies… we're doing everything we can to find her."

"I know you are."

"Lindsey…"

"She's sleeping. I don't want to wake her if I don't need to."

Gil stared out into the street, taking a few moments to collect his thoughts. "Has anything happened lately? Has Cath mentioned anything, anyone, that might…"

"She hasn't said anything to me. Of course she rarely says much to me."

"Sam…"

Lily interrupted him before he could say anything more. "Don't. Unless you have no other options, I don't want him to know."

"I won't say anything for now. We've got some evidence from the scene running through the lab right as we speak. I'll see what we find out there. But if we come up blank I'm going to need to question Sam. See if anything he's been doing lately… see if there might be a connection."

"What's going to happen?"

"Right now, I'm going to go back to work. We're going to get her back Lily." He assured both himself and Catherine's mother. "We haven't heard anything yet from whoever took her. Hopefully we'll get something from them soon. Do you want me to get Nancy? I can…"

"No, I'll give her a call, tell her to come over here."

"Good. I don't want you to be alone right now. If you hear anything, anything at all, give me a call."

XOXOXO

to be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Among The Dead

Author: Angie

Summary: What if it was Cath?

Disclaimers: Fortunately, CSI Crime Scene Investigation does not belong to me, they are the property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful actors who portray them. If they did belong to me, I'm sure no one would have ever heard of them. The episode "Grave Danger" was written by Quentin Tarentino, Naren Shankar, Anthony Zuiker and Carol Mendelsohn

Author's Notes: Reading some of this fic may seem a little like deja vu. If I managed to succeed in my intentions that will be the case. This story started off with the idea of, "What if it was Cath?" and it escalated from there. There are lines in this which are extremely similar to the episode "Grave Danger" and some which are exact, that's done intentionally. I was intending on posting this all in one chapter, but length is prohibiting me from doing that. Many thanks to Jaclyn for betaing this for me. Thanks for the feedback on the first chapter. I'm still a little iffy on this fic, so it's nice to know a couple people enjoyed it.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Major Spoilers for "Grave Danger" if you haven't seen that episode and don't want to know what happened, DO NOT read this fic. There are also minor spoilers for "A Little Murder" and "Weeping Willows" and the possibility of minor spoilers from any other episode through the end of season five.

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

XOXOXO

"Gris."

He looked to his left, acknowledging his co-worker as he continued the walk to his office. "Greg."

"I put all of Cath's active cases on your desk. Checked with Brass, the lawyer from a few weeks ago is accounted for, as is the guy who attacked her at the crime scene a few years ago."

"Thanks."

"Gris… you know, this might not be related to her work. What if one of Sam's…"

"Keep that under your hat for now." Gil told him, pushing Greg into the office with him and shutting the door. "Do you know if she's told everyone about her relationship with Sam Braun?"

"Most people know that they know each other. I don't think she's told many he's her father, though after the case was thrown out people…"

Gil nodded, understanding where Greg was going with his thoughts. "Don't tell anyone. We can't rule that out, but if this was personal… there's no way anyone could have known it would be Cath going to that scene. She was either followed, or…"

"Or they would have taken any of us."

They turned at the knock and Gil motioned for Greg to open the door.

"Gris. Just got back from Trace." Nick said in a rush. "The white fiber on Cath's vest. Cotton. Hodges found ether on it."

Sara stepped into the office and looked around. "I, um, just got back from the print lab. Nothing on the cup or the bag, the swab I took is still with Mia."

Gil was about to respond when he was interrupted by a scream down the hall. Looking at the rest of the team, he moved past them rushing down the hall, with the others close behind.

"Hodges? What's going on?"

"He was contaminating the package. I had to get it away from him."

"What package?" Nick questioned, looking at the delivery guy being held by security.

Hodges put the item on the counter, pointing to it. "It's about Catherine."

Gil turned to the package, looking at it closely, studying Catherine's name on the envelope. He pulled out a pair of gloves and quickly put them on. Picking up the item, he turned to the others. "I'm running with this."

XOXOXO

Gil stepped into the trace lab, setting the package onto a table and pulling up a chair. Running his fingers over the envelope, he felt the contents, making sure he knew where the items were. Grabbing an Exacto knife, he sliced open the very end of the envelope, bending it slightly and tilting the envelope to allow the contents to spill out onto the table. He glanced inside the envelope, making sure nothing remained then shifted his focus to the two items on the table. Using the ALS, he ran the light over the items, scanning for any foreign substances. The items came up clear and he picked up the cassette tape, turning it over in his hands. Glancing up, he saw the rest of the team step into the room. Without acknowledging them, he moved around the others, grabbing a cassette player and putting the tape in the machine. He hit play and waited. The taunting lyrics drifted over the room and Gil could see the confusion then anger overtaking everyone's expression as the true meaning to the lyrics sank in. They weren't going to catch the kidnappers. He held up the flash drive and moved to the computer. Plugging it in, the rest of the team gathered around him, watching the computer. A web page popped up on the screen, reading simply. 'One million dollars in twelve hours. Or the CSI dies. Drop off instructions to follow."

Gil watched the message flashing across the screen. With shaky hands, he moved the mouse to click on the button marked watch, not knowing what the action would bring.

XOXOXO

Catherine slowly blinked her eyes, adjusting to the green light by her side. She moved to sit up, wincing as her head made contact with the top of the box. Her eyes darted from side to side, she moved her hands away from her body, feeling the sides as she slowly came to the realization of where she was. Lifting her head slightly, she glanced down to the end of the box as she raised the glow stick, enlightening the area near her feet. She set the glow stick on her chest and felt around with her hands, she grasped onto the foreign object and raised it, revealing several glow sticks. "At least I don't have to be in the dark." She muttered, setting them back at her side. She felt around more on her left side, picking up the square object. She brought it to her eyesight, looking over the tape recorder and setting it on her stomach. Moving to the other side, she felt the familiar metal object. Lifting it for confirmation, she looked over her gun, removing the clip and seeing the single bullet inside. Engaging the safety, she set the gun back at her side. She moved the glow stick towards the top of the box, her mouth dropping open as she clearly made out the dirt on top of the box. Her breathing quickened and she could feel the panic starting to over take her body. She pressed her hands up, not feeling any give on the box. She shuddered as she felt the scream ripping from her body, echoing through the casket shaped box as she pounded her fists into the top. Calming herself down, she moved her hand to her stomach, picking up the tape recorder. Turning it over in her hand, she pressed play.

'Hello beautiful. Bet you're wondering just why you're here. It's simple, you followed the evidence. Led you right to me. I left your gun there for you, in case suffocation seems a little slow for you. Either way you are dying tonight."

She dropped the tape, hearing the click as it turned off. "No!" She screamed, feeling the tears stream down her face. Blinking rapidly, she shielded her eyes from the sudden spotlight activated at the end of the box.

XOXOXO

Gil watched as Catherine shielded her eyes. His own eyes taking in every inch that he could see, his hand instinctively raising to the screen to try and wipe the tear stains off her cheek. Her head moved closer to the camera and he could make out her looking towards her feet. "Catherine." He whispered, watching as her eyes looked up, almost as if she heard him say her name.

"Is this a live feed?"

Gil jumped at Sara's voice, moving his hand away from the screen.

"Looks like it." Warrick said stepping closer to the screen.

Gil grabbed a piece of paper, looking at the screen and jotting down some notes. "Her head is close to the camera. Doesn't appear to be much room next to her. She doesn't look like her legs are pulled up.." He quickly jotted down the calculations, looking up when finished. "That would be about six hundred liters of air in there." He did the mental calculations before continuing. "Assuming the math is correct, that's a little over an hour."

"We've got a twelve hour window. Maybe she has an outside air source we can't see." Nick walked to the back screen, inspecting the sides.

They continued watching the screen, when suddenly it went black and switched back to a white screen with the watch button beckoning them.

"How long was that?" Gil asked. Not getting an answer, he looked at his watch, checking the time, he hit the button again.

XOXOXO

She blinked, once again blinded by the light. Shifting her legs slightly, she adjusted her feet to block out a portion of the light. She turned her head to the side, seeing the brightly lit dirt just outside the box. She angrily wiped the tears off her cheek, letting her mind drift as she tried to fight her urge to panic.

XOXOXO

"That's it, Cath. Stay calm." Gil whispered, watching as she closed her eyes, recognizing her relaxation technique.

"Gil." Ecklie called stepping into the room. "I, um… I just got a call back from the mayor."

"No ransom, right?"

"'The city of Las Vegas can not give in to terrorist demands.' At least I think that's how he worded it. I'm looking at the budget now. I might be able to swing something there."

"Let me see what I can do." Gil said, standing and walking out of the room, knowing where he needed to go.

XOXOXO

Gil pulled up to the Tangiers and made his way to the concierge desk. "I'm told Sam Braun is here. Can you tell me where to find him?" He asked, flashing his identification at the young man behind the desk.

He followed the directions to the bar off the main casino, moving around the room until he spied the table in the back corner. He cleared his throat, making his presence known. "Sam. Can I speak to you for a moment? Alone."

"Unless you have a warrant in your hand, I have nothing to say to you."

"Sam." Gil continued, undeterred. "It's important."

Sam glanced at his guests, apologizing before slipping out of the bench. He walked past Gil, trusting him to follow, and went to a private room just outside the bar. Flipping on the light, he shut the door and turned to Gil. "What's so important that you had to interrupt my evening."

"Catherine. She was kidnapped." He said bluntly, not letting Sam's initial anger get to him.

"Who took her?"

"We don't know yet. At the moment, it appears to be random. We think the person or people that took her staged a crime scene. If that's the case, they couldn't have known who would show up."

"Yet in the back of your mind you still wonder just what I might have done…"

"Don't you?" Gil countered.

"Nothing recent. If this is from my end it's from the past. I'll check into my enemies. Make sure they are all behaving themselves."

"Sam…"

"I knew there was more."

"We received a message. They want…"

"How much?"

"We checked with the mayor…"

Sam interrupted again. "Terrorist threat, no negotiations, right? How much do you need?"

"One million. I can scrape together…"

"No need. I'll make a call." Sam walked across the room to the house phone. Minutes later, he was back in front of Gil. "You'll have the money in about five minutes."

Gil nodded, shifting uncomfortably.

"How do you, um… how do you know that she's…alright?"

Gil glanced at Sam, noticing the fear in his voice. "They sent us a package. There was a website link… it has video. It looks like a live feed…"

"I want to see it."

"It's not…"

"I don't care. I want to see for myself. Like it or not, she's my daughter. Just…" He swallowed hard, glancing down before turning his gaze to Gil. "Don't make me beg."

XOXOXO

Gil led the way down the hallway of the crime lab, ignoring the questioning glances of his co-workers. He walked into the private waiting room, shocked to see Lily there. "I didn't know you were…"

"I couldn't sit at home anymore. Not knowing what was going on. I…" She stopped when Gil stepped out of the doorway and revealed Sam Braun.

"What's he doing here? I thought I told you."

"Lily." Sam replied, stepping into the room and walking to her. "I'm so sorry."

She ignored Sam and turned to the other man in the room. "Gil?"

"Please, have a seat." He directed the two. Once they were seated, he pulled out a chair on the other side of the table and sat. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was bringing Sam into this, Lily. There wasn't time. We… we heard from the kidnappers."

"And?"

Gil glanced at Sam before looking back at Lily. "They gave us twelve hours to get one million dollars."

"One million…" Lily stopped, realizing why Gil had gone to Sam. She turned to look at the man she had loved all those years ago. "You gave him the money."

"Of course. I'd have given twice as much if needed."

Gil watched Catherine's parents, seeing the silent communication flow between them as Sam reached for Lily's hand.

Lily squeezed Sam's hand for support before turning back to Gil. "How do you know they haven't… that she isn't already…" She trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.

"We were sent a link to a web page. There's a camera." Gil repeated for Lily.

"I want to see."

"Lily, this isn't…"

She interrupted Gil, standing from the chair. "I want to see my baby. Please."

Gil shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to be able to stop her. "I have to warn you, the video is… disturbing."

"Is she alright?"

"From what we can tell, she physically appears unharmed. All we can really see is her head, not much below. The video is a little grainy, but under the circumstances she looks like she's doing alright."

"What circumstances?" Sam asked, not liking Gil's uneasiness.

"She's being held underground."

Lily looked at Gil, her eyes wide. "She's buried alive?"

Gil didn't respond, he led them out of the room and across the hall to where the website was being broadcast. "Are you sure you want to watch this?" He asked, not expecting to get a response. He waited until they were both in front of the monitor, pulling the chair out for Catherine's mother. Once she was seated, he reached for the mouse, clicking the button to activate the website.

XOXOXO

Catherine blinked, her eyes once again squinting against the intruding light. She brought her hand up, over her eyes kicking the top of the box as she screamed in frustration.

"Stop! Please! Just let me out of here."

XOXOXO

Lily gasped, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay as she watched Catherine on the screen. She quickly stood, knocking the chair over as she fled the room.

Gil turned, watching her lean against the wall in the hallway. He moved to follow her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me." Sam told him. "You concentrate on getting her out of there. What ever you need, I can get it for you. What ever you need to do, I can get it taken care of. Just get Mugs back to us." Sam left the room, walking over to Lily and pulling her into his arms. After a few whispered words, he led her down the hallway.

Gil went to the doorway, watching for a few moments before turning in the opposite direction and heading for his office. He pulled out his keys, unlocking the rarely closed door and slipping inside. Settling in his chair, his eyes strayed to the locked drawer on his desk, picturing the brown leather bag that encased the money he received from Sam. The ringing of the phone shook him from his thoughts and he quickly answered it.

"Grissom."

"The address from the delivery guy was a dead end." Brass bluntly told him. "What's happening on your end?"

"Archie's trying to trace the source of the web cam. It's taking longer then expected, the signal is bouncing through different countries, and it's moving every time we hit the watch button again. I'm not sure we're going to get anything off that. I, um… I got the money. Just waiting to find out where to take it."

"Where did you get that kind of money?"

"Sam." He simply said, not elaborating any more.

"Gil, are you sure that's…"

"He's got the money, Jim. I'm not going to let her die because I disagree with her lineage. I can deal with any repercussions later. Right now.. I just want to get her back."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine…"

"I know you aren't fine, Gil. But I'll let you pretend for now. We'll talk when this is all over."

Gil looked up as his door slammed open and Archie appeared in the doorway slightly out of breath. "I gotta go, Jim." He hung up the phone without preamble and turned his attention to the man in his doorway.

"A message just popped up on the website. They want the money in twenty minutes." He hurried across the room to Gil, handing him a piece of paper. "Here's the address."

Gil glanced at the paper then back to Archie. "That's a good half hour from here, when the traffic isn't bad."

"I know."

"How much time do I have left?"

Archie glanced down at his watch. "Seventeen minutes."

Gil unlocked the drawer in record time, grabbing the case and racing out of the room. "Tell the others what's going on." He yelled over his shoulder as he ran down the hallway.

XOXOXO

to be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Among The Dead

Author: Angie

Summary: What if it was Cath?

Disclaimers: Fortunately, CSI Crime Scene Investigation does not belong to me, they are the property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful actors who portray them. If they did belong to me, I'm sure no one would have ever heard of them. The episode "Grave Danger" was written by Quentin Tarentino, Naren Shankar, Anthony Zuiker and Carol Mendelsohn

Author's Notes: Reading some of this fic may seem a little like deja vu. If I managed to succeed in my intentions that will be the case. This story started off with the idea of, "What if it was Cath?" and it escalated from there. There are lines in this which are extremely similar to the episode "Grave Danger" and some which are exact, that's done intentionally. I was intending on posting this all in one chapter, but length is prohibiting me from doing that. Many thanks to Jaclyn for betaing this for me. Thanks for the feedback on the first two chapters. I'm still a little iffy on this fic, so it's nice to know a couple people enjoyed it. This might be the next to the last chapter... still trying to decide if I want the story to end where I stopped it, so awaiting a second opinion at the moment.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Major Spoilers for "Grave Danger" if you haven't seen that episode and don't want to know what happened, DO NOT read this fic. There are also minor spoilers for "A Little Murder" and "Weeping Willows" and the possibility of minor spoilers from any other episode through the end of season five.

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

XOXOXO

Gil climbed out of his Denali, glancing down at his watch noticing he still had three minutes to spare. Quickly making the decision, he swallowed back any fears he may have had, grabbing the bag and cautiously making his way to the old warehouse. Climbing the rickety stairs, he glanced around, taking in his surroundings before opening the door. He stepped inside, slipping off his sunglasses, hooking them on his inside pocket, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to his surroundings. He noticed the white Ford at his side, nodding as he realized Warrick had, in fact, figured out which vehicle Catherine had been in when she was taken. Setting the bag at his feet, he pulled out his flashlight, using it to look around the room and take in his surroundings.

"Las Vegas Crime Lab." He said aloud, hoping to get some sort of response.

"Through the door."

He shone his flashlight in the direction of the mysterious voice and noticed the door across the room. Picking up the bag, he cautiously moved across the room. His flashlight lit up a dog, dead on the floor, and he paused briefly before once again slowly moving across the room. He glanced at a box on the floor, his eyes quickly scanning the contents as he continued making his way to the door. He climbed the three stairs to the doorway and stepped through, stopping a good distance from the lone man in the room.

"It's pretty quiet outside. Almost sounds like you came alone."

Gil didn't give in to the goading in the man's voice. "I've got your money."

The man stood up, looking at Gil. "Put it down." He watched as Gil did as directed. Nodding, he spoke again. "Slide it over." He made his way around the table, watching as Gil kicked the bag his direction. Once the bag came to a stop, he walked over to it, glancing down. "You're telling me there's a million dollars in here."

"Yes."

"Along with what? I know there's something else in this bag. Dye packs. A tracer…a…"

"Normally you'd be right. One hundred percent right. But not this time. I just want Catherine back, no tricks. Where is she?"

He laughed, bending down to open the bag. Pulling out a stack of bills, he looked at it, then glanced back towards Gil. "This looks real."

"It is real." Gil stated quickly. "Where's Catherine?"

The man tossed the stack of bills back in the bag and stands up, wiping his hand across his mouth. "I thought it was against departmental policy to negotiate with terrorists?"

"Are you a terrorist?" Gil countered.

"Depends. Are you terrified?"

"I really don't want to talk to you. I just want my….I want Catherine back."

"Ah… I see now. So she's your Catherine."

He didn't argue, just wanting to get his information and leave. "She is. Where is she?"

"So tell me, just how close are the two of you?"

"That's none of your business. Where is she?"

"You know, as I was moving her unconscious body around I couldn't help but notice how attractive she was. My hands would sometimes seem to just have a mind of their own. I'm sure it was impossible to work with her and not let your mind and hands wander. How many times did you take that opportunity? How many times do you let your hands play over her body? How do you feel now, watching her gasp for breath in her coffin? Her body fighting the panic that wants to break free. The tears sliding down her cheek. How many times did you want to just reach out and brush those tears away, pull her body close to yours and shield her from the pain?" He watched Gil, his facial features and eyes conveying all the words his mouth refused to speak. "Welcome to my world." He muttered, unbuttoning his jacket.

Gil blinked, his eyes taking in the explosives wrapped around the man's waist.

"If I was you, I'd step back a little."

Gil took a step back, watching as the man fingered the trigger in his hand. Just as he was taking the second step, he saw the man press the button. Gil tried to move his hands over his face, but the force of the blast over took him in seconds. He felt himself being thrown backwards, grimacing as he realized the sickening crunch he heard was his head impacting the floor.

He slowly raised his head, closing his eyes as the dizziness over came him. He heard the sirens closing in on him and he forced his eyes open again. His eyes swept over the room, covered with the remains of the man as he heard footsteps come into the building. "Watch where you're walking!" He yelled, hoping the rescuers didn't ruin any evidence that may have remained. He sank back to the floor, letting the pain of the last few minutes overtake him.

"Are you alright?"

Gil opened his eyes, looking right into the eyes of a paramedic. "I'm fine." He grimaced as he felt the unfamiliar hands roam his body, searching for injuries.

"Nothing seems to be broken. There's a lot of blood though."

"I don't think most of it is mine." Gil muttered, watching the coloring leave the face of the paramedic. "Help me up." Gil slowly sat up, still feeling slightly dizzy as he moved. He gripped the hand of the paramedic, letting the man help pull him to his feet. Once up, Gil fully looked around, taking in the damage to the room.

"Come on. Let me get you out of here, there's some friends of yours outside wanting to know how you are doing." The paramedic walked past Gil, turning to make sure he was being followed.

Gil blinked as they stepped into the bright sun, letting himself be led over to the ambulance. He watched as the back of the ambulance was opened and Gil sat, allowing the paramedic to check over him.

"Pupils are even." The paramedic said to himself, noting the dazed look on Gil's face.

"He blew himself up and left us with nothing."

"Sir, are your ears ringing?"

Gil ignored the question, his mind still going over everything that had just happened.

Brass walked over to the ambulance, watching as the paramedic finished examining Gil.

"Sir, I think you need to be taken in to the hospital. Have a doctor check you over for…"

"I'm fine." Gil dismissed him. "I don't need a doctor. I need to get back to work. I need to find Catherine."

"Gil…" Brass interrupted. "You can't go in there. You know that. You are part of the evidence. I'll take you back to the lab. Come on."

Gil didn't put up a fight. He signed the paper the paramedic gave him, acknowledging his refusal for further evaluation. Once that was completed, he stood on shaky legs and followed Brass to the police cruiser. He sat in the car, staring straight ahead as Jim began the trip back to the lab.

Jim looked in Gil's direction once again, taking in the fact that the man's facial expression had yet to change since they began the trek back to the lab. Taking a deep breath, Jim decided to speak. "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

"He didn't give me a thing. He never had any intention… I should have seen it coming. Damn it!" Gil screamed, pounding his fist onto the dash. "What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to get her back?" He turned to Jim, not attempting to disguise the anguish in his eyes. "How am I supposed to go to Lindsey and tell her that I couldn't save her mother?"

Jim glanced over at Gil before turning his attention back to the road. "This isn't your fault. There's no way you could have known what he was planning on doing. You, and every other person in the lab and the police force, are doing everything humanly possible to find her. Something is going to break. I can feel it."

"You don't know that. We don't have anything."

"They will find something in that building. We just need to wait."

"We don't have time to wait for the evidence to come to us. Her time is running out, Jim. I'm going to lose her."

Jim didn't reply, he made the turn into the parking lot and pulled into one of the vacant spaces. "Come on." Jim opened the door and stepped out of the cruiser, heading into the lab. He didn't look back, knowing Gil would follow him when he was ready. He walked through the lab, finding Archie sitting in front of the monitor. He stepped through the door to join Archie in the room, nodding as Gil passed him and walked over to Archie.

"What's going on?" Gil asked, taking the chair next to Archie.

"Same as before." Archie told him.

"Do you mind staying a bit longer? I need to get this to evidence?" Gil asked, motioning to his clothing.

"Not at all. Take your time."

Gil walked out of the room, stopping in his office to grab a few bags and swabs before heading to the locker room. He moved to his locker, taking out a fresh change of clothing and went into the shower room, locking the door behind him. Carefully pulling off his clothes, he folded them neatly and placed them in the brown paper evidence bag. He took the swabs and smaller bags and set them on the shelf under the mirror. Realizing he no longer had a pen on him, he moved to the doorway, glancing down at his boxers. He unlocked the door and bolted over to his locker, spinning the lock and opening the door, hoping to retrieve the pen before anyone could enter the room. Opening the door, he grabbed the pen and shut the door, snapping the lock closed, moving back to the shower room and securing the door behind him. He moved back to the mirror setting the pen on the shelf next to the other supplies. Picking up the swab, he brushed it over a bit of the blood on his face before snapping the plastic case around the end. He put the item in the evidence bag and marked precisely where the blood was located. Continuing his work, he quickly gathered the evidence from his face, thankful that Nick had thought to take pictures of the injuries while the paramedics were completing their exam. He gathered the swabs and set them on the bench next to his bagged clothing. Moving across the room, he opened the small closet, taking out two towels and making his way to a shower stall. He hung the towels on a hook before removing the rest of his clothing. Folding the item, he put it on the small bench in the corner of the stall. Turning the knob, he stepping under the water, letting it scald it's way down his body before pumping out the industrial soap in the dispenser attached to the wall. Working quickly, he rubbed his soapy hands over his face and hair before rinsing the lather away. Moments later, he turned off the water, wrapping the bath towel around his waist and running the smaller towel over his hair. Picking up his boxers, he stepped out of the stall, placing the item in the evidence bag and pulling on his new clothes. Once finished, he gathered his evidence, leaving the room and stepping back into the hallway. He passed his clothes to DNA and moved down the hall, stepping back into the room with Jim and Archie.

"Anything new?"

"Nope." Archie replied, standing to stretch a kink out of the muscles in his back.

"Why don't you go take a break. I'll stay with her for a while."

Gil rubbed his eyes, watching the screen as Archie left the room, Jim quickly taking the vacant scene. The two remained quiet, watching Catherine on the monitor before them. They watched as the sweat formed on her brow, muttering something as she turned to the side. The site flipped back to the main page, and Gil slowly moved his hand over to the mouse, clicking the button to activate the site yet again.

XOXOXO

Catherine turned her head to the side, breathing deep as the fan once again clicked off. She raised her head slightly, frustration overcoming her features as the light once again shined upon her. Her hand settled to her side, digging in her pocket in hope. She smiled as she located the pack of gum she had slid into her pocket earlier that evening. She pulled a piece of gum out of the pack, chewing it slightly. Once it was adequately softened and most of the initial stickiness had worn off, she pulled the piece from her mouth, molding it slightly and putting it into her ear.

XOXOXO

Gil watched Catherine's movements with interest, trying to figure out what was going through her mind.

"What's she doing?"

Gil shook his head, his eyes focused on her movements. "I'm not sure." He told Jim, watching as she took out another piece of gum and repeated the process over again. His eyes widened as he saw the gun come onto the screen.

"She's protecting her ears…" Jim muttered.

Both of them leaned closer to the screen, watching as she checked the gun and disengaged the safety.

"What is she doing?" Jim repeated.

"She wouldn't protect her ears if she was planning on using the gun on herself." Gil said to assure Jim, and himself.

They watched as she cocked the gun and then the gun disappeared from their view.

"What are you doing Catherine?" Gil muttered, watching her face. He jumped at the sudden flash of light before the screen faded into blackness.

"What did she do?"

Gil didn't respond, his eyes searching for movement on the screen. A slight green light slowly lit the screen and Gil couldn't help the smile as he saw Catherine's face, her head turned to the side breathing deeply.

"The light must have been hooked up to whatever is supplying her oxygen." Gil realized. He nodded watching the triumphant smile on Catherine's face. She reached up and removed the gum from her ears, glancing at her now worthless gun and setting it back at her side.

"I hope you're trying to find me, Gil."

Gil watched her lips move, now thankful for his earlier hearing problems. "I am Catherine."

"What did she say?" Jim asked.

Gil turned to Jim, startled. "Sorry… um. She hopes we're trying to find her."

Jim nodded, watching Gil staring at the screen. He slid his chair back, turning to look at Gil. "I'm going to go see how Archie is doing. Make some calls."

Gil nodded, his eyes not straying from the screen as he watched her.

XOXOXO

Gil walked into the break room, looking at his co-workers. "Tell me we've got something."

"I found a thumb at the scene. Sent it to DNA. Mia ran it through codis and came up with a hit, sorta. Relation. We think it's his daughter." She passed the case file over to Grissom. "I contacted Brass. He had Kelly, the daughter, brought in for questioning. She didn't give us much. Interesting thing though… that address from the messenger. It wasn't random, that's the scene of Kelly's crime."

Gil looked up, taking in what Sara just said, and quickly searching through the case file. He found the list of evidence collected and looked up. "The cup wasn't random either. We need to find out everything we can about Kelly Gordon and her father." He looked over at Warrick and Nick. "What did you two find?"

"Well Greg discovered it first. After a little digging, we found a box. Looks like the one Catherine is in. Probably a prototype. We found a dog inside." Nick told Gil.

"We have the box set up down the hall." Warrick said. "We'll go back and look at it some more once we're done in here. There is an air vent in the box, a fan hooked up to it. So she's getting outside air, as long as the fan keeps running."

"And we don't know how much of the battery we drained keeping the damned light on her."

XOXOXO

to be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Among The Dead

Author: Angie

Summary: What if it was Cath?

Disclaimers: Fortunately, CSI Crime Scene Investigation does not belong to me, they are the property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful actors who portray them. If they did belong to me, I'm sure no one would have ever heard of them. The episode "Grave Danger" was written by Quentin Tarentino, Naren Shankar, Anthony Zuiker and Carol Mendelsohn.

Author's Notes: Reading some of this fic may seem a little like deja vu. If I managed to succeed in my intentions that will be the case. This story started off with the idea of, "What if it was Cath?" and it escalated from there. There are lines in this which are extremely similar to the episode "Grave Danger" and some which are exact, that's done intentionally. Thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated and will go in my little review collection with my others, for use when I'm stuck on a story and start thinking I suck. For those wondering, I am thinking about writing a follow up story to this, before anyone decides they want to kill me...

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Major Spoilers for "Grave Danger" if you haven't seen that episode and don't want to know what happened, DO NOT read this fic. There are also minor spoilers for "A Little Murder" and "Weeping Willows" and the possibilty of minor spoilers from any other episode through the end of season five.

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

XOXOXO

Catherine held the glow stick tightly in her hand, her eyes continually darting around the box. She shifted uncomfortably, her muscles beginning to protest her continual state of idleness. "I don't know how much longer I can do this." She said, her mind comforted by the sound of her voice. "Maybe I should keep talking… at least then I'm not in complete silence. How did Gil handle that when his hearing went out?"

Her talking lapsed as she let her mind wander to her friend. "What are you doing now, Gil? Does anyone even know I'm missing? Why didn't I get my will updated?" Her mind drifts to Lindsey and the tears overtake her. "I don't want my baby to grow up alone."

XOXOXO

"Keep it together, Cath." Gil whispered, trying to keep his own emotions in check as he witnessed Catherine's emotional roller coaster. "We're looking for you, just please keep it together until I get there." He watched as she took deep breaths, her hands moving up to wipe her eyes.

XOXOXO

Catherine started at the strange sound. Her eyes scanning her environment trying to figure out what was causing the sound. She raised her head, glancing down to the bottom of the box. Her eyes opened in fright as she saw the cracks developing in the Plexiglas. "No!" She screamed, panting heavily as the cracks traveled up the case. "What did I do?" She used her hands to push herself towards the top of the box, grateful for the extra room her height allowed her in the case. Her hand reached to the tape recorder and she picked it up, looking for the record button.

"My name is Catherine Willows. If anyone finds this tape, please turn it in to the Las Vegas Police Department, or Crime Lab. There will probably be a reward for any information you give. If someone at the lab gets this, please give a copy to Lindsey. Lindsey, baby, I love you. I know you didn't always believe me when I would tell you. But I do. More than anything. I'd do anything for you, and I always tried my best. I tried to set a good example for you. Make you see that you can do anything you put your mind too. I'm sorry I wasn't always there when you needed me. I hope where ever you are now, you're happy. That's all I've ever wanted… to see you happy. Mom… I know I wasn't always the daughter you wish you had. Our relationship wasn't what you hoped it would be, it wasn't what I had hoped it would be either. But I'm glad these last few months we were starting to get along again. I just wish we'd had more time to make things right." Catherine cleared her throat, kicking the dirt that had seeped into the box away from her legs. "Sam… I don't know what to say. I wish I had found out sooner. I spent the first part of my life thinking of you as a father figure, wishing you were. And the last few years so angry that you had lied to me about it. I just… I don't know, I wish things had been different. I know you told me I make things difficult, that I choose to make my life harder then it needs to be. But I can't help that. I was always fending on my own, fighting to get what I wanted. You knew that, you watched me. Don't hold that against me know. And please… just… don't go overboard with Lindsey. I know you are going to try and give her everything in the world. I don't want that, don't kill her spirit, her need to fight and feel accomplishment at achieving her dreams on her own."

XOXOXO

Gil watched her, his eyes taking in every word she said.

"Nick, Warrick… these last few months… I know they've been a lot to adjust to. It's been a lot for me to adjust to as well, I went from being your friend to your boss. We went from working together, to me having to tell you what to do. I'm sorry my promotion meant you two having to leave night shift, having to adjust to a new boss. That isn't what I intended. Thank you for sticking by me. Greg, I have to say it, you're doing good. I don't get to see you much anymore, but I still keep tabs on you. You are going to be an excellent CSI. Just stay focused and don't let anyone tell you different."

Gil swallowed past the lump in his throat, fighting off the tears at watching her leave her final goodbyes.

"Gil… I don't know what to say. We've been through so much together. You were there when I started, just a tech in the lab, much like Greg. I know he can drive you nuts, but so did I. We've had some great times, Gil. Some not so good times as well, but remember the good ones. That's what I want you to do, remember the happiness. I loved watching you smile. I want you to remember me and smile, don't think about now… about all of this. Promise me that, Gil. I want you to find happiness, somewhere."

"I promise." Gil whispered, his head ducking down, trying to get his emotions in check before anyone else in the room could notice.

"Something's wrong." Sara said, watching Catherine writhe on the screen. "She's freaking out."

Gil snapped his head up, noting the sudden change in Catherine's temperament.

"What's happening? She's been so calm." Sara asked, staring at the screen.

"I'm not… wait a minute." His eyes scanned the screen as he forced himself to not focus on Catherine. "There it is." He said, pointing to the bottom corner of the screen.

"What is that?"

"Ants." Gil said, his eyes moving back to Catherine, watching as she suffered through the assault. "She's being eaten alive."

XOXOXO

Catherine screamed in pain. Her hands instinctively trying to brush the offending creatures off her skin.

XOXOXO

"Stay calm, Cath. Don't fight it. They wont bite as much if you keep still."

XOXOXO

Catherine closed her eyes, hearing Gil's words echo through her mind. "They just react to you, Catherine. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone."

She dug into her pocket, trying to find anything to cover her orifices as she felt the ants move up her body. Retrieving some gloves from her pocket, she placed the fingertips of one glove in her nostrils, creating a barrier, then repeated the process on her ears. She moved her hands up, covering her mouth and closing her eyes.

"Please find me soon."

XOXOXO

"That's it Cath, stay calm." Gil said aloud, watching with pride as she once again overcame her obstacles. "Now we just need some luck." He moved to the computer, his hand in position over the mouse. He kept focus, waiting. "Come on."

Sara and Greg stepped behind him, both watching Gil at work.

"Just a little more." He muttered, talking to the screen. He watched as one of the ants moved over the camera lens. "That's it!" He yelled, his finger quickly pressing on the mouse. He heard the printer whirl and swiveled in his chair, grabbing the paper and heading out of the room. He rushed to his office, putting the piece of paper on his desk and grabbing a reference book from a shelf. He quickly flipped through the book glancing between the book and the paper he had printed out. "Aha!" The smile came out on his face as he looked at the book. "Solenopsis invicta."

Gil walked out of his office, motioning for Greg and Sara to join him. He stepped into the layout room, watching as the others gathered around the table. "The ants. Fire ants. Very rare in Nevada, they don't like our soil. The only place they will be is a nursery."

Nick nodded, typing the new information into the computer. "There are eleven nurseries in the Las Vegas area." Nick informed the others.

Archie nodded, pointing to a large map of the city on the table. "I've got the web cam traced down to this area." He said, drawing a circle on the map.

Greg stepped over to the map drawing a circle of his own. "The information from the Ford's black box is narrowed to a twenty-three mile radius."

Warrick looked at the map, quickly glancing at the sheets Nick had just printed of the nursery listings. "There are two nurseries in the overlapping area." Warrick told them, taking one of the markers. "Here and here." He said, marking the spots on the map.

"Wait a minute." Sara jumped in. "Kelly Gordon worked with plants. Where's that file?"

"My desk."

Sara ran out of the room, returning seconds later with the file in her hand. "You guys, Catherine is here." She said pointing to one of the marks on the map.

XOXOXO

Gil could feel his pulse racing as he sped towards the nursery, his eyes trying not to focus on the hundreds of flashing red lights. He glanced at his watch, the time slowly counting down. "Just hang on, Cath. I'm coming."

He squealed to a stop, jumping out of the Denali and rushing over to the nursery owner. "You said on the phone you had a fire ant mound. Where is it?"

"People usually prefer to stay away from it." He led him down the dirt path, stopping in front of a mound of dirt.

"Okay fan out. Look for loose soil or anything that might have been dug up recently." Gil watched everyone spread out. He glanced down to the machine he had with him, walking south as he scanned the ground, looking at the machine to see if the transmission from the web cam was any stronger. He walked forward, watching as the bars on the machine lit up. His pace sped up, as the number of bars lit increased.

"I'm getting something over here." He yelled, letting the others know where he was at. He continued looking down at the monitor as he walked forward. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, seeing that the others were slightly behind, following his move. Rounding the corner, his eyes swept out over the dirt road and he carefully continued forward, his mind reminding him that he was quickly running out if time. He stumbled slightly, his eyes glancing back to the ground behind him. Eyes opening wide, he fell to his knees, pushing aside the pain as the digital readings fully lit up. He started digging with his bare hands, praying he'd finally found her. Seconds later, his fingers scraped over a foreign object. Concentrating on that section, he unearthed a plastic bag, looking closer, he realized it was the transmitter.

"I found her! She's right here!" Gil yelled, scrambling over to the second black bit of plastic sticking out of the ground. "Catherine, I'm here! Hang on, I promise you'll be out of there soon. Just hang on!" He started pushing the dirt aside with his hands, looking up as he felt himself being pushed out of the way.

"Let them use the shovels, Gris… it'll be faster." Sara said, clearing the way for the others.

Gil stood back, watching the frantic digging taking place before his eyes. He moved over to one of the black pipes, kneeling down before it. "Just hang on, Cath. We're almost there."

There was a beep, and Gil looked to his watch, glancing up to see the others had done the same. The countdown was over.

"Don't give up, Cath. Just a few more minutes, I promise."

XOXOXO

Catherine flinched. She was hearing voices. She had yet to determine if it was reality or just her mind playing tricks on her, when she heard the sputtering of the fan. Her eyes opened in shock, immediately closing again as she felt the ants moving on her face. 'Oh God.' She groaned in realization that she would soon be out of air. She made a conscious effort to slow down her breathing, her mind trying to slip away to past memories but the continual pain from the ant bites coupled with the crawling sensation washing over her body was counteracting any efforts she made.

"Don't give up, Cath. Just a few more minutes, I promise."

She heard the voice again. Gil's voice. With the same message as before. She clasped her hands tighter over her mouth, screaming. Praying that someone would finally hear her.

"Just hold on!"

Gil's voice again. Her mind working the possibilities. She worked harder, trying to control her breathing and not panic, her mind believing the voices she was hearing.

XOXOXO

Gil kept his eyes trained on the hole, watching as it became deeper and deeper. A thought entered his mind and he turned to Greg. "Go get a fire extinguisher from one of the Denali's. We're going to need it for the ants." He watched as Greg ran off, his mind barely registering the ringing phone. He watched Nick climb out of the whole, handing his shovel off to someone else to continue digging.

"What?"

Gil turned his focus to Nick, watching the disbelief come over his face.

"I hit something!" Warrick shouted, immediately getting the attention of everyone but Nick. He dropped to his knees, using his hands to brush the dirt off the box. He smiled as the clear box came into view.

"Stop digging. Get out of the hole!" Nick ignored the looks on everyone's faces. "Hodges just called. Those marks on the bottom of the prototype… he ran them… semtex. That box is rigged to explode."

Gil looked as everyone quickly scrambled out of the hole, everyone but Warrick.

"Warrick stay there!" Gil yelled, his mind quickly figuring out the calculations. "What are the odds he had this planned with Catherine in mind?" He asked, climbing in the hole with Warrick.

"I thought we determined it was random?" Sara said, watching as Gil took position next to Warrick.

"Exactly." Gil agreed, motioning for Warrick to leave.

"I don't want…"

Gil didn't let him finish. "She wont be alone. Go on." He assured, giving the man a slight push in the opposite direction. "It was random. If the trigger is weight related, and it probably is…"

"Catherine doesn't weigh enough." Greg said in realization of what was happening.

"Exactly. It's probably configured for at least one hundred fifty. Cath's not close." Gil said, kneeling onto the top of the container. He brushed away more of the dirt, barely making out Catherine's face through the condensation on the top of the box. "Get a crowbar." He directed, his hand making a sweeping motion over the top of the lid, before knocking lightly to get Catherine's attention. "Just a few more minutes, Cath. I'm not leaving you." He looked up to see Warrick with the crowbar. "I need you to try and pry the lid up, just a little, with me on it. Greg, have that fire extinguisher ready. Short bursts, so you don't suffocate her." He looked back to Catherine, knocking again. "Cath?" He waited for her attention. Not getting a response he tried again. "Cath, listen to me. We're gonna raise the lid just a little and kill those ants. Okay?" He saw the slight movement of her head, the only indication she had heard.

Warrick climbed down the side of the hole, moving aside enough dirt to get the crowbar under the edge of the lid. He pressed down, Greg beside him, ready with the fire extinguisher. The top raised a few inches and Greg managed a couple bursts from the fire extinguisher before a sickening crack stopped them in their tracks.

"Lower the lid!" Gil yelled, brushing aside more dirt. Revealing more of the lid, he tried to cover his disappointment as he uncovered the multiple cracks. He looked around trying to decide what to do.

"Can we take the lid off in sections?" Brass said, looking down at him.

"Not sure how we do that without the possibility of hurting Cath. It's already weak, that may cause the Plexiglas to shatter." Gil remained still, ignoring the pain in his knees as he stayed in position over the coffin. Sensing movement, he glanced down.

Catherine moved her hands, brushing the dead ants off her face and opening her eyes. "I'm not hallucinating." She said to herself as she realized the new light she was under. She blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting as she wiped the condensation off the top of the box. She peered out, moving her hand to shield her eyes from the light, Gil's voice still echoing through her mind.

"Cath?"

Her eyes searched out the voice saying her name, when suddenly his face was directly over her.

"Hold on, okay. We're working on it."

She nodded, tears springing to her eyes. "Gil." She pushed up, feeling the slight give on the lid. Her eyes once again turned to Gil, realizing he wasn't moving. She pushed again, the panic rising as she realized Gil was the one keeping her locked up. "Move, Gil. Let me out." She pounded her fist to the top, kicking up slightly with her feet.

"Catherine! Listen to me." He watched as she continued to struggle, her fear escalating. "Cath!" He yelled, his hand slamming to the top of the lid, forcing her attention. "Listen to me." He gulped at the fear covering her features. "Cath. You know me. I wouldn't keep you in there unnecessarily. The box is wired to explode. I believe it's weight triggered. Do you understand me?"

Catherine nodded, letting her feet fall back down, her hands falling dejectedly to the side.

"You're too light, Cath. We're trying to figure out how to get the lid off without me having to move. Just give us a little time."

She raised her hand, splaying it out against the top, watching as Gil placed his own hand above hers.

"I'm not leaving, Cath. I'm right here with you. You're going to be fine."

Catherine was about to reply when the ominous cracking started again. She watched as the cracks moved up the lid, stopping just over her face. "Gil…."

"I'll think of something." He interrupted, trying to remain perfectly still.

"Gil, listen to me. Have Warrick pry up the lid again. That should…"

"I don't want this to shatter on you, Cath."

"I can handle it. I need the air…"

His eyes suddenly locked on her, noticing the labored breathing. He looked up, motioning for Warrick to come down. "Get the crowbar. Nick find a rope, we're getting this lid off here."

Nick soon returned with the rope, looking down the hole to Gil. "What do you want me to do?"

"Toss it here."

Gil caught the rope and quickly reached for one of the ends. "Cath, this is what we're going to do. When Warrick lifts the lid, I'm going to slip this end of the rope to you, I need you to poke it out of the other side. Okay?"

Catherine nodded, moving her hands above her head to grab the rope.

"On the count of three." Warrick directed, looking back and forth between the two. "One, two, three!" He grunted, pressing down and keeping steady pressure as Gil passed the rope into the box, moving it to the side before retrieving the end from Catherine.

Gil pulled the rope through the box until a couple of feet now rested on the other side, then motioned for Warrick to lower the lid. He took the two ends of the rope and made a slip knot, pulling it tight against the lid. "Nick!" He called, throwing the rope back up to him. "I need you and the others to pull the lid off, hopefully it will just slide out from under me. Go slow, I don't want to crush Cath when I fall into the box." He felt the lid raise slightly and he moved to the side of the rope. The lid started cracking, again, and Gil yelled up to the others. "We're gonna have to go faster, it's not going to hold my weight." Gil moved further to the side, being careful to keep his weight steady. Once the lid was over far enough, he pushed his hand into the box with Catherine, resting it next to her head. Using his arm, he began pushing the lid, grunting with the effort. Suddenly, the lid slipped out from under him. His hand caught his upper body, while is left knee crashed to the base of the coffin, just missing Catherine's leg.

She took a deep breath, relishing the fresh air. She brought her hand up, cupping Gil's cheek, smiling as he mimicked her actions. "Now what?"

"Same concept. We'll put the rope around us."

"They won't get us pulled out before the explosives…"

"I have a plan." Gil whispered, brushing his thumb across the red bite marks on her cheek. "Those bites will heal soon, I promise." He shifted slightly, pulling Catherine into his arms as he slid onto his side. "Throw that rope back down here." He reached for the rope, glad to see the slip knot still in tact.

"Wait, Gris." Greg called, suddenly appearing over the edge of the hole. "Use this." He tossed the karabiner down to Gil.

Gil took the karabiner and fastened it around his belt, then looked at Catherine's waist. He frowned when he noticed she wasn't wearing a belt. "I don't suppose…" He felt around her waist, his frown deepening. "No belt loops either. Trust me?"

"Always." She replied without hesitation.

"I promise I won't let go." He moved the karabiner to the back of his belt, after he tied the rope to it. "Can you make sure the rope is secure?"

Catherine moved her hands around him, tugging on the rope. "It's secure." She told him, her hands sliding back around to his chest.

"Warrick?" Gil called, turning his head to look out of the hole. "Can you get the rope?"

Warrick stepped into the hole reaching for the rope.

"Careful." Gil cautioned, as he passed the rope off. "I need you to find someone that can operate that backhoe. Get the shovel filled with dirt, at least two hundred pounds."

Warrick nodded. "I'll be right back."

Gil turned his attention back to Catherine.

"You're going to have them bury us."

"Just temporarily. They'll pull us out. I just need you to hang on as tight as you can." Gil told her, his hand gliding up to her hair, brushing it aside. "I just want to tell you…"

"Don't. Don't say anything. This is going to work, I know it."

"I saw you… earlier. When you were leaving that message."

"Gil…"

"You still drive me nuts, you know." He smiled, and before she could say anything in reply he ducked his head, pressing his lips to hers in a short, yet intense, kiss.

"You two ready?" Warrick called into the hole.

"Give us a second." Gil told him, looking back at Catherine. "Lock your legs around me and wrap your arms around my neck." Gil rolled Catherine onto her back, resting on top. "I'm sorry if I smash you."

"You're fine." Catherine said, resting her forehead on her arms, now tightly wrapped around Gil's neck. She tucked her head into Gil's neck, preparing for the next step.

"Don't panic, it wont be long." He raised his head slightly to avoid yelling in Catherine's ear. "We're ready." He called, feeling the pull on the back of his belt.

They took a deep breath, waiting for the inevitable.

The countdown started and Catherine squeezed her eyes shut, tightening her grip on Gil. She fought back the scream as the impact of the dirt falling hit.

Gil tightened his grip on Catherine, feeling the slight pull on his belt. Seconds later, he was flying through the air, fighting his body's urge to panic as he fought to keep his arms firmly around Catherine. The heat shocked him, as he felt the explosion propel their bodies forward. He landed on the ground, hard, grateful that he had been the one to hit first. Loosening his hands, he slowly raised his arms, feeling the slight rise in Catherine's chest and smiling in relief. "Cath?"

She shifted slightly, leaving her hands around Gil's neck. "Ow." She murmured, keeping her head hidden in the side of his neck.

"Are you alright?" Gil asked, resisting the urge to kiss her again.

"I think so." She shuddered, the full impact of the events coming to her mind. "Gil…"

"It's alright Cath. Everything is going to be alright." He whispered, his hands rubbing her back slightly. He was about to ask another question when he detected the presence of the rest of the team. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking at the numerous worried faces surrounding them.

"Let us through."

Gil watched as the crowd separated, two paramedics coming their direction. Again, he saw the unfamiliar hands coming towards them, this time reaching for Catherine instead. They quickly did their examination, as much as they could without moving her.

"Ma'am… how do you feel? Are you having any pain?"

"Of course she's having pain." Gil answered.

"Any pain in your back or neck?" The man asked, ignoring Gil's previous statement.

"No."

"Okay, just to be safe, we're going to strap you to this backboard." The paramedic told her as his partner settled the board against her back. The two worked quickly, holding her upper body firmly against the board and rolling her off Gil. While the first paramedic continued holding her head in place, the second strapped her to the back board before securing the c-collar around her neck. After quickly assessing Catherine, they turned back to Gil.

"Get her to the hospital." He waved them off, his eyes staying on Catherine.

"There's room in there for the two of you." The paramedic told him. Taking another collar, he secured Gil's neck before the two rolled him to his side, placing the back board beneath.

"Before you strap me to that, can you unhook that karabiner?" Gil asked.

The man unhooked the metal object from Gil's belt then strapped the backboard into place and carefully lowered Gil back to the ground. Before Gil could think about what was happening, the two paramedics left his view. Moments later, Gil saw Catherine being moved onto a gurney then lifted into the air, quickly repeating the actions on Gil. He lost sight of Catherine, listening as she was wheeled away from him, his eyes focused on the moon above. Feeling the movement underneath him, he shifted his eyes to the paramedic. "Wait." He was slowed to a stop and Gil took a breath. "Ecklie." He yelled, waiting for the man to step over to him.

"Gil."

He looked intently, letting his eyes convey his seriousness. "I want my team back."


End file.
